battery explosion

[iwanta260]

I had a battery on a 'smart' trickle charger, and it exploded. They are not smart enough to sense when the plates buckle or run dry, and just keep charging until the plates touch, then big badda boom!! bits of silver Yuasa plastic everywhere under the bonnet.
I suppose I should have drop tested the battery every now and then to check for a dying battery.

[MSS]

Trickle by definition means a low charge current - say around 100mA. This should not be enough to make anything explode. Are you sure you have a low-current smart charger?

What make and model of charger were you using?

[iwanta260]

Originally Posted by MSS

Trickle by definition means a low charge current - say around 100mA. This should not be enough to make anything explode. Are you sure you have a low-current smart charger?

What make and model of charger were you using?

Forget the name, I think it was unbranded, but it is the same as this one:-
eBay item number: 373741659947


The blurb reckons it provides a maintenance charge, and senses the battery condition, so it usually does not provide any charge at all

[T-Cut]

To save you searching: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373741659...4AAOSw7Gher-fh
TC

[MSS]

It would be difficult for anyone to know why your battery exploded unless careful examination of the internals is undertaken by a battery expert. That is if the internals can still be found. There could be a number of reasons for the failure.

What you should ask yourself is just how intelligent or safe-in-opertaion a circa £11 charger is likely to be. I personally would not trust one at all because there are a lot of very cheap far-eastern semiconductors and electronic devices being sold which do not provide reliable service. For example, there are PC power supplies being sold at very low prices which are dangerous and also damage PC components. Some lack basic safety and protection features.

I would only trust an intelligent charger from one of the major manufacturers - CTEK, Optimate, NOCO being three really well known brands. If I did not wish to invest in such a quality but expensive product, I would buy an old fashioned simple charger and apply human intelligence to the charging process.

You should not assume that all intelligent chargers have the same level of intelligence. Some of them may have none!

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by MSS

What you should ask yourself is just how intelligent or safe-in-operation a circa £11 charger is likely to be.

Particularly when it's unbranded and claims to do everything!

Graeme; I have a C-tek, one of the brands Maninder mentioned, and you'd expect to pay at least five times the cost of your eBay device. If you're going to buy a smart charger, invest in a decent one. It will pay you back over and over again.

Simon

[COLVERT]

Originally Posted by iwanta260

I had a battery on a 'smart' trickle charger, and it exploded. They are not smart enough to sense when the plates buckle or run dry, and just keep charging until the plates touch, then big badda boom!! bits of silver Yuasa plastic everywhere under the bonnet.
I suppose I should have drop tested the battery every now and then to check for a dying battery.

Rather a lot of guesswork going on in here.---

If the plates run dry they will no longer charge.

The plates will have quite a job to touch one another as they have a separator between them.

Drop testing is to see how much electricity is stored in the battery.

I personally don't blame the charger.---Much more likely a poor connection provided the spark needed to detonate the thing.---

[trikey]

Originally Posted by COLVERT

Rather a lot of guesswork going on in here.---

If the plates run dry they will no longer charge.

The plates will have quite a job to touch one another as they have a separator between them.

Drop testing is to see how much electricity is stored in the battery.

I personally don't blame the charger.---Much more likely a poor connection provided the spark needed to detonate the thing.---

I agree, I blew up a fork lift that was on charge once, i leant against it and a static spark jumped from me to the truck and blew up the batteries.

[MSS]

Originally Posted by trikey

I agree, I blew up a fork lift that was on charge once, i leant against it and a static spark jumped from me to the truck and blew up the batteries.

So the nitrous oxide injection kit wasn't to blame?

[MSS]

Originally Posted by COLVERT

Rather a lot of guesswork going on in here.---

If the plates run dry they will no longer charge.

The plates will have quite a job to touch one another as they have a separator between them.

Drop testing is to see how much electricity is stored in the battery.

I personally don't blame the charger.---Much more likely a poor connection provided the spark needed to detonate the thing.---

Did you notice that none of us were very specific about what may have caused the battery to explode?

But we were very specific in giving our views about the charger.

I do hope he does not take your comment as a measure of confidence in his charger!